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Artist/Band: Tom Russell
Lyrics for Song: Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts
Lyrics for Album: Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs [2004]



The festival was over the boys were all plannin' for a fall



The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall



The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down



Anyone with any sense had already left town



He was standin' in the doorway lookin' like the Jack of Hearts



He moved across the mirrored room



"Set it up for everyone", he said



Then everyone commenced to do



What they were doin' before he turned their heads



Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin



"Could you kindly tell me friend what time the show begins?"



Then he moved into the corner face down like the Jack of Hearts



Backstage the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs



Lily had two queens she was hopin' for a third to match her pair



Outside the streets were fillin' up the window was open wide



A gentle breeze was blowin' you could feel it from inside



Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts



Big Jim was no one's fool he owned the town's only diamond mine



He made his usual entrance lookin' so dandy and so fine



With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place



He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste



But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts



Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town



She slipped in through the side door lookin' like a queen without a crown



She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear



"Sorry darlin' that I'm late", but he didn't seem to hear



He was starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts



"I know I've seen that face before", Big Jim was thinkin' to himself



"Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody's shelf"



But then the crowd began to stamp their feet



And the house lights did dim



And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him



Starin' at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts



Lily was a princess she was fair skinned and precious as a child



She did whatever she had to do she had



That certain flash every time she smiled



She'd come away from a broken home had lots of strange affairs



With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere



But she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts



The hangin' judge came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined



The drillin' in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind



It was known all around that Lily had Jim's ring



And nothing would ever come between Lily and the king



No nothin' ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts



Rosemary started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife



She was tired of the attention tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife



She had done a lot of bad things even once tried suicide



Was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died



She was gazin' to the future riding on the Jack of Hearts



Lily washed her face took her dress off and buried it away



"Has your luck run out?", she laughed at him



"Well I guess you must have known it would someday



Be careful not to touch the wall there's a brand-new coat of paint



I'm glad to see you're still alive you're lookin' like a saint"



Down the hallway footsteps were comin' for the Jack of Hearts



The backstage manager was pacing all around by his chair



"There's something funny going on" he said "I can just feel it in the air"



He went to get the hangin' judge but the hangin' judge was drunk



As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk



There was no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts



Lily's arms were locked around the man that she dearly loved to touch



She forgot all about the man she couldn't stand



Who hounded her so much



"I've missed you so" she said to him and he felt she was sincere



But just beyond the door he felt jealousy and fear



Just another night in the life of the Jack of Hearts



No one knew the circumstance but they say



That it happened pretty quick



The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked



And Big Jim was standin' there ya couldn't say surprised



Rosemary right beside him steady in her eyes



She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of Hearts



Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall



And cleaned out the bank safe it's said that they got off with quite a haul



In the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground



For one more member who had business back in town



But they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts



The next day was hangin' day the sky was overcast and black



Big Jim lay covered up killed by a penknife in the back



And Rosemary on the gallows she didn't even blink



The hangin' judge was sober he hadn't had a drink



The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of Hearts



The cabaret was empty now a sign said "Closed for repair"



Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair



She was thinkin' 'bout her father who she very rarely saw



Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law



But most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts


Album Lyrics: Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs [2004]


Tom Russell
"Indians Cowboys Horses Dogs [2004]"


1. El Paso
2. Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts
3. Seven Curses
4. Tonight We Ride